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Twitter announces plans for stock offering

Twitter has tweeted that it has submitted papers for a stock offering.

We've confidentially submitted an S-1 to the SEC for a planned IPO. This Tweet does not constitute an offer of any securities for sale - Twitter (@twitter) September 12, 2013

The firm followed up the tweet on its official account with a picture of its staff saying: "Now, back to work."

Talk of an initial public offering (IPO) has been circulating on Twitter for some time, and The Wall Street Journal estimated the company, founded in 2006, to be worth some $10.8 billion.

The Social Internet Fund's Lou Kerner is expecting a big reaction from investors.

Top Twitter users:

Justin Bieber - 44 million followers

Katy Perry - 42 million followers

Lady Gaga - 40 million followers

President Barack Obama - 36 million followers

"Given Twitter's significant growth, and the market's love affair with social media, the Twitter IPO is posed to be a home run."

Twitter has become one of the fastest-growing and most influential social media services, used widely by celebrities, journalists and politicians among others.

The company said earlier this year it had "well over 200 million" active users, although some analysts say the figure is much higher.

Experts estimate Twitter is adding 135,000 registered users daily

Twitter this week said it was moving deeper into mobile advertising with the purchase of MoPub, a startup focusing on mobile ad exchanges.

The acquisition, announced late Monday, was estimated to be worth some $378 million, according to the technology news site TechCrunch.

The fast-growing social network is expected to earn $629 million globally in ad revenue this year and nearly $1.08 billion next year, according to industry tracker eMarketer.

The San Francisco company is taking advantage of a rule adopted last year by the Securities and Exchange Commission which allows "emerging growth" companies with revenues of less than $US1 billion to keep financial details confidential until they get closer to the IPO.

Concerns over social media companies have faded as Facebook, whose shares lost 50 per cent after its May 2012 IPO, hit an all-time high in recent days.

Analysis by the website Statistic Brain says Twitter has some 554 million active users and is adding 135,000 daily.

According to the analytics site Dashburst, at least 170 billion tweets have been posted since the company launched in 2006, with users spending an average of 170 minutes on the site each month.

Dashburst estimates 80 per cent of Twitter users access the site via a mobile device.

The most popular person on Twitter is Justin Bieber, with some 44 million followers.

Katy Perry has 42 million and Lady Gaga 40 million, ahead of US president Barack Obama on 36 million.